Sweets & Spices

Wednesday, 7 June 2017

This is a must must must chutney for any Chaat Items Also called as Garlic Chutney. Do Try!!

Its good to write back in the blog!! Looks like my zeal to try new things has croped up once againSo this Ramadan I am trying new simple things to treat myself I love chaat items alot and was browsing for simple chaat recipes which I can make with what ever little ingredients I can get at my home.I came across this simple red chutney which is added by almost everyone and this made me curious to try once.Came through a very simple recipe of Red Chutney and I wanted to try immediately IngredientsGarlic Peeled - 1/4th cupKashmiri Red Chilli Powder - 2 tbspNormal Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 to 1 tsp (depending on hotness you like)Salt - 1/2 to 1tsp (depending on taste)Water as neededMethod:Mix all the above ingredients and blend it into thick smooth paste with help of water.

Store it in a container and refrigerate, Use as an when needed.I have no idea how long you can store but since its a very small batch you can finish it off soon and make it fresh when ever requiredNature and Taste Of This ChutneyThis chutney is suppose to give rich flavor to the dishes so it will not be very hot /spicy. This chutney is suppose to give extra added flavor only so dont be afraid of the red color you see. Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder will only give rich red color to the chutney.How To Use Add a tsp full of this chutney in any chaat items and enjoyI added this with boiled chickpeas, some chopped onions, coriander leaves, 1tsp of red chilli chutney and 2-3 tsp of sweet tamarind chutney. mix it well and serve it garnished with Sev!!1st pic is just a glimps of the the narrated preparation I have written above.I just loved the new taste.I also used this in making papdi chaat and it was equally delicious just ummmaahhh. May be next time I will write up for papdi chaat when I take some pictures.So make little efforts and treat your family with joy :)Cya until next!!

Thursday, 23 February 2017

The result was unknown until I actually inverted and was surprised to the core!!

We come across many mug cakes recipes and tempt to try it but at times the end result disappoints us, as in my case many times Mug cakes I tried were either crumbly or hard at some areas which really dint please me. But some how it did curb my sweet cravings.

I was fasting in the month of hajj.. yes a few months back ever since the post is pending. I though I missed the pics as my hubby's lappy crashed and all my pics have gone with the wind. luckily I found pics for this in my draft and I feel so so happy about it :)

A treat for me from myself as I was craving for something sweet and thought of making mug cake. I tried a recipe with my own tweak of ingredients and timing, which left me wonder struck at the result, texture and also taste, because somewhere I was expecting it to be un-done..... I couldnt resist but to click pics to blog.

-Now add milk little by little to form and smooth lump free thick paste. Just a tbsp of milk at a time and mix. Do not pour more milk and make it runny!!

-Allow it to rest for 5 mins.

-Microwave it in high for 1 min 30 sec exactly!!! Once done allow it to rest in oven itself for 5 mins more (anyways you cant eat it hot hot so let it rest) :)

-After 5 mins remove from oven and allow it to get warm, Either dig in right away or loosen up using a knife and Invert upside down it if you please.

Enjoy your mini treat whole heartedly!!

After baking

Inverted upside down

Notes:

- You make mix the ingredients in a different bowl and pour it into mugs or bowls, I made it in a 500 ml microwaveable container because I did not had mugs with me.

- Fill the mugs only half as the cake will puff up and the batter will double its size. This way you can fill up 2 medium size mug OR one large mug!!

- Do not add more baking soda than mentioned!! It may become too much soft and also break into pieces.

- you may double the quantity if needed for bigger bake in that case cooking time may vary.

- Mixed fruit jam was added because I did not had vanilla essence with me, If using vanilla essence add some extra sugar to match your sweet taste (1tsp should be enough I guess). Jam gave a very nice flavor to the cake.

- Since it is eggless do not worry about the unwanted smell Just go ahead with the recipe

- Adding choco chips gave a very nice touch. I was not expecting a uniform distribution throughout the cake, but you can see how nicely it has spread and melted here and there!!

By the time it was 2 mins my cake would turn hard or chewy. So this was a risky factor to set my own temperature as trial and by luck it was perfect!!

use only maida do not use wheat flour it will hard and dry out, still if you want you can try with this recipe

Once you get your 1st trial done perfect then feel free to tweak accordingly!!

It is so soft soft. look at the edges such a neat finish

I am actually squeezing it hard!!

Evenly distributed choco chips perfectly melted taking up this simple cake to the next level.Hope you try and enjoy :) But before trying please do read up all the notes written out there....until next cya bubye....

Tuesday, 6 September 2016

Sweetcorn Pakoda is a wonderful snack to munch on. If you are a sweetcorn and pakoda lover like me you should surely try this combo.

I went through various youtube channels to get a perfect recipe. When we get lots of options then it is good to trust our instinct

So here I come up with my own version of sweetcorn pakoda!! At 1st I was wondering what if it dosent taste good as I expect??? But later I thought what ever lets give it a try

I informed my hubby ahead about my trial and also told him to have it whether he likes it or not, And not to make faces after 1st bite etc etc. So the next day I informed my MIL and she was alrite with it. After my completion of making pakodas I must say it was simply yummm. My MIL and hubby both liked it, but yes my hubby also said its heavy can eat only few. With heavy he means dense and filling.

Lets get to the recipe................

Level - Easy

Serves - 4

Ingredients:

Boiled sweet corn - 1 cup

Chopped Onion - 1 medium size

Green Chilli - 1 chopped

Ginger - 1 tsp Finely Chopped

Gram flour - 1/2 cup

Cornflour - 2 tbsp

Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp

Hing - a fat pinch

Chaat masala - 1/2 tsp

Garam Masala - 2 fat pinch

Coriander leaves - 3-4 tbsp

Chopped Curry Leaves - few

Salt to taste

Oil to Fry

Method:

Take half of the boiled sweetcorn and grind it coarsely in mixer. It will look similar to grated corns do not grind it much we just need some texture.

- In a big bowl add all the ingredients together except oil.

-Mix everything nicely by hands to bind it well. If the mixture looks too dry only then add water otherwise sweetcorn has enough moisture to bind all the contents together.

- Heat oil in a pan and drop small small quantity of pakoda batter into the oil.

- Fry it over medium heat till nicely golden and crisp.

- Serve hot with ketchup

Impression

It was something new and different, do try it yourself to know the unique taste :)

Saturday, 3 September 2016

Up side Down Cake Really Means Up Side Of The Cake Should Come Down First

I do not know how it got the name but this cake has been always fascinating me to try it at least once for sake of tasting it.

There were few reasons why I couldnt bake this cake earlier when I learnt baking

Sometimes I found recipe is difficult and sometimes ingredients like brown sugar or pineapple missing. Finally I located a very simple recipe in which I can use normal sugar as a base coat and pineapple was available once. I had to fight with my mom asking me to give the pineapple for sake of making this cake. Yea I did emotionally triggered her hehe I am sure every children know how to do it Right?

So with the availability of ingredients I finally happen to make the cake during this Ramzan.

But again due to some personal reasons Im Late to blog about this. And now I realized its Eid again so make this and impress your guests. Not forgetting to Mention It was simply yummm. So mind you if you get this fruit easily in your place dont miss to try this out :)

Take a baking pan and add sugar, melt it in low flame till golden brown, Add in butter and swrill it to cover all the corners, Allow it to rest till cool. It will become hard and start cracking!!

Arrange pineapple pieces into the baking pan and keep it aside.Pre heat the oven in 180 degree celsius while we prepare the cake batter side by side- In a mixing bowl add sugar and all other wet ingredients together and mix it will till all the sugar dissolves and a smooth mixture is achived.- Sieve all the dry ingredients and start adding to the mixture little by little till you get a free flowing lump free mixture do not over mix.- Pour this cake batter into the prepared baking tin and bake it for 35-40 mins till the cake test comes clean- Remove it from oven and let it sit for 5-7 mins before inverting.

- Sides of the cake will be already loosen due to water oozed out while baking but still run a knife in the sides of cake pan and invert it into a plate

Impression:

As this was my 1st try my family simply loved it.

The cake was flawlessly appealing and attractive to look at. Upper part of the cake had lovely finishing. Lower part of Cake was soft and yummy to taste.All of us enjoyed having this cake and hoping to make this in future again and again :)

Serving Suggestions:Serve it warm and enjoy as it is OR Serve it with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. Flaunt yourselves in front of your guests ;)Cya until next Bubye!!

Thursday, 25 August 2016

Paan / Pan in India is a well known mouth freshener consumed after main meals. Beetle leaves along with condiments and other natural flavoring ingredients makes it all unique.

There are varieties of paan available in India with different flavors and ingredients to look at. Every state and places present it in a different way with difference in taste. My love for paan is minimal....Since the time I learnt how to make ice cream I also learnt that there is also something called as paan ice cream, ever since then I wanted to try my hands on this flavor but was hesitant for some reason.Recently Me and my hubby were into a resto and wanted to try out snacks there. I always encourage my hubby to taste something new. To my surprise I found pan ice cream in the menu, For a while I tried to figure out if it has something to do with fry pan??? No I'm not so dumb... But I was just wondering if there is fried ice cream which can exist there could be something with fry pan too :| Later I realized it should be paan ice cream and wanted to give a try immediately!! Though my hubby ordered it but he knew less what was lying ahead for him. After snacks the moment he tasted the ice cream his face lit up and eyes brighten, I was shocked to see him like this, he asked me paan ice cream? I said yes I wanted to taste it before I try at home sometime. He loved it so much that I let him have extra share and also clicked his pic to show him his own reaction. I tried this a day ago for my cousins who came to Chennai from Orrisa, with very short notice in hand that I came down to my moms place and make something for them I was glad that it turned out better than what we tasted in the restaurant :)

IngredientsWhipping cream - 1cup (I had sweetened cream in case you have unsweetened whipping cream make use of condensed milk for sweetness)Banarasi Paan - 2 Custard made of cornflourGreen Food color as requredTo Make CustardBoil Half liter full cream milk and simmer the flame mix some water to 4tbsp cornflour and make a runny pasteAdd this to the boiling milk and keep stirring it to avoid lumps.Add in 1/2 cup to 3/4th sugar and let it cook for 5 more mins.Once this is well combined remove it from flame and keep aside to coolAfter cooling keep in fridge for chilling.Preparation To Make Paan Ice Cream:Mean while as the milk mixture is cooling. Be ready with other ingredients like? - If your whipping cream is frozen thaw it by keeping it in refrigerator for few hours. - Keep the whipping blades in freezer to chill. - Keep a big bowl ready in which it has to be whipped ( please make sure that the bowl is at least 3 liter capacity or more because we need lots of space to aerate air while whipping the cream and as we add other ingredients we need some space to combine it well)- Open up the banarasi paan and take out the stuffing inside keep it aside.- Blend the betel leaves along with some milk and keep it ready, also add a fat pinch of green food color into it. Simple Till now???Process to start making paan ice cream.- Take a big clean bowl add in the whipping cream and start whipping till it forms a soft peaks this may take 5-7 mins- Now slowly start adding the chilled custard mixture little at a time and keep whipping. You will slowly find the cream mixture is nicely forming stiff peaks.- Add in the betel Juice and the stuffing which we took out and continue whipping till everything is well combined!!- Check for Sweetness, If you have unsweetened whipping cream add in some condensed milk to sweeten it. Since I had pre- sweetened cream I did not add condensed milk + the milk custard and paan stuffing which will have gulkand will also have some sugar content so be careful at the sweetness part. - Place it in a well packed plastic box and freeze for 2 hrs till half set, Remove it and mix it everything from bottom to top and sides, level it and freeze it again till set. This is done to evenly distribute the mixture of paan stuffing which we added, chances are there that since the whole mixture is so light and airy that the solid ingredients might sink into the base of the box.- Keep it over night for best result and enjoy it next day!!

Notes:- In case you feel the flavor of paan is less feel free to blend up more betel leaves and add in to the ice cream.- By any chance if you find the ice cream to be too much sweet to your taste then you can mix amul fresh cream to balance the taste. This can be mixed later also so no need to panic. Even if your ice cream is set you can again take out in a bowl mix in the cream and whip it, set back again!! - When you get the banarasi paan from shop ask the shop keeper not to add chunna, khatta, and supari we dont want to spoil the flavor.- If you dont get meetha paan or banarasi pan then get paan leaves, some cherry, gulkand, desiccated coconut and sauf blend the leaves and add other ingredients into ice cream mixture just like that. - Adding Green color is optional but it gives a good presentation.- I have added the food color from top after setting it in the box so it gives green and white shade mixed. If you add color while whipping itself the green color will be evenly distributed.

Very Soft and Creamy Texture no Ice crystals at all :)

Impression:- To my honest review everyone in my family loved this new flavor in ice cream and were really surprised with something new like this!! You need to try to know what it is!!And the pictures explains the texture of ice cream how creamy and yummy it is :)Do try and let us know your reviewsCya until nextBubye :)